Blake Bortles signs one-year contract with Rams

Monday

Former Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles agreed to a one-year contract to join the Los Angeles Rams, the franchise announced Monday night.

Bortles was released by the Jaguars last week when former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles signed a four-year, $88 million free agent contract to replace him.

The Jaguars opted not to designate Bortles as a post-June 1 cut, so his contract will count $16.5 million in dead money on the team’s 2019 salary cap. If Bortles would have remain on the roster, his contract would have resulted in a $21 million cap hit this season after signing a three-year, $54 million extension in February 2018. With is release, the Jaguars saved $4.5 million.

Jaguars top executive Tom Coughlin and general manager Dave Caldwell both refused to admit last week that giving Bortles a contract extension, which included $26.5 million guaranteed, was a mistake.

After a 3-1 start last season, which included a victory against New England, Bortles struggled with inconsistency that caused him to lose his starting job to backup Cody Kessler after the Jaguars lost seven games in a row to drop to 3-8.

Bortles, the third overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft out of UCF, went 24-49 as a starter, including a 2-1 mark in the playoffs. During the regular season, Bortles threw 103 touchdowns and 75 interceptions and posted a quarterback rating of 80.6.

''It was the right thing to do,” Coughlin said. ''The guy took us to the AFC Championship Game, and there wouldn’t have been anybody that would have disputed the fact that he deserved the opportunity and we played well behind him.”

Bortles, who visited the Rams on Monday, will be the backup for starter Geoff Goff in 2019.

Behind Goff, the Rams advanced to the Super Bowl LIII last season but lost to the New England Patriots 13-3.